Open Kitchen, Ortcheid , Germany 27Feb45

Open Kitchen, Ortcheid (?), Germany 27Feb45 Man on machine gun, changes places w/ another & goes to field kitchen stove under tree next to truck & served stew into metal mess kit. CU man eating chicken leg. 05:20:00 GIs w/ local men walking along road to army trucks, given picks & shovels and walked along muddy road past wrecked German vehicles & equipment to barnyard. Large dead horse. Digging pit to bury horse. 05:21:50 Men w/ horse team drag dead horse up road followed by GI & truck. Other horses dragged out of field. 05:22:11 GI cooking in kettle on top of stove in field. Lifts lid of large kettle & checks chicken leg, puts into oven. Stirring steaming pot. 05:23:16 GIs digging pit w/ town in valley beyond. Machine gun on side of pit. Covering w/ sod. Men sleeping under overhanging rock. Medic taking notes. Man comes out of newly built hut. WWII Military Daily Life; German farmers; Survival;